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Coventry Castle
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Red Ditch
In the civil parish of Coventry.
In the historic county of Warwickshire (Modern Authority of Coventry, 1974 county of West Midlands).
Castle in city long destroyed. Coventry castle was built in C11 by one Ranulf Meschines who was the earl of Chester. The castle was razed to the ground in C12 and then rebuilt again. After a lot of warring and fighting in mid C12 the castle fell into disrepair. It has even been suggested that the crumbling hulk of the castle was used as a quarry for stone to built other town structures and the city wall. Excavations by archeologists have found the defensive ditch to the castle. This is referred to as the Red Ditch. The castle ditch was up to 20ft deep by a similar width. There is reference to the decaying state of the castle in the time of Queen Elisabeth the first. When Mary Queen of Scots was to be imprisoned there it was thought to be unfit and so she was housed in Caesar's tower.
This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Nothing visible remains.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP33597895
PastScape number;
869495
Books
- Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p256 [mention]
Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p40
Salter, Mike, 1992, Castles and Moated Mansions of Warwickshire (Malvern) p27
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p485
Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p216
Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
Stephens, W.B. (ed), 1969, VCH Warwick: Vol8 p118, 121-2
Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p371-5
Journal Articles
- Chatwin, P.B., 1928, Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society transactions Vol53
Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1972, ‘Medieval Britain in 1971’ Medieval Archaeology Vol16 p183
1975, Medieval Archaeology Vol19 p274
Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1982, ‘Medieval Britain in 1981' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p212
Coates, B. and Rylett, M., 1986, West Midlands Archaeology CBA Regional Group 8 Vol29 p71
Chatwin, P.B., 1947-8, 'Castles in Warwickshire' Transactions of the Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Vol67 p6-7
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